Kristin Cashore’s teen fantasy novel GRACELING --due out in October—is already generating buzz in the blogosphere.
GRACELING’s main character, Katsa, has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight years old. She is a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s henchman. She never expects to fall in love the beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away.
Vancouver blogger Kate Trgovac has already posted an early review of GRACELING:
“From a narrative point of view, GRACELING has a lot going for it: adventure, intrigue, romance, betrayal, an extra-creepy villain, cool psychic abilities, and lady pirates. Yes, lady pirates! OK, just lady sea captains - but I imagine Captain Faun would be an AWESOME pirate."
It’s really amazing that a first-time author has already inspired bloggers like Kate to take to their blogs! Stay tuned for more about GRACELING
See Kate’s entire Graceling Review!
The first of two excerpts from Chris Wood’s incisive new book DRY SPRING: THE COMING WATER CRISIS OF NORTH AMERICA, entitled ‘They Don’t Want Our Water’, is now available from the Tyee website!
Introducing the excerpts, David Beers, the editor of the Tyee, provides the background to the environmental series Chris has written for their website, Rough Weather Ahead, and how Chris came to write DRY SPRING.
The second excerpt, discussing co-operation between the US and Canada over water, will be available tomorrow, but in the meantime, you can read Chris Wood’s most recent article for the Tyee, posted Tuesday, in which he critiques the British Columbia’s Liberal government’s new water strategy.
(AND you can also read a nice new review of DRY SPRING at A’n’E Vibe!)
Alan Berger’s guide to urban wastelands DROSSCAPE has been reviewed by Erick Villagomez for Vancouver’s re:place Magazine:
Drosscape is a very important book - especially given the uncommon and increasingly relevant nature of the subject discussed. It is must-read for anybody seeking to understand the nature of residual space within the contemporary urban landscape and the processes that lead to their creation. After all, only through understanding can we attempt to develop relevant solutions.
I’m pleased to announce that world-renowned author, anthropologist and archaeologist Brian Fagan will be presenting an illustrated public talk at the Vancouver Public Library on March 26th! “The Pleasure of Ruins” will explore the fascinating science of modern archaeology and highlight some of the important global issues of climate change and heritage conservation that we face today in our modern world.
Widely regarded as the leading authority on the interaction of climate and human society, Brian Fagan is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Anthropology, University of California, and a best-selling author. His latest book THE GREAT WARMING: CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF CIVILIZATIONS has received excellent reviews in The Winnipeg Free Press and Maclean’s Magazine, and you can see Brian tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart!
“The Pleasure of Ruins” is a free talk organised by the Archaeological Society of British Columbia and will be held at 8pm, March 26th in the Alice McKay Room at the Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch, 350 West Georgia Street.
“The Pleasure of Ruins”
Archaeological Society of BC Special Public Event
8:00PM, Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Alice Mckay Room, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
350 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C.
(For media types, if you’d like further information, or to arrange an interview with Brian Fagan, please email me: dan[at]raincoast.com - Thanks!)
Thanks to everyone who entered our Adrian Tomine contest and left comments about his work. Adrian definitely has a lot of fans out there. (I knew I wasn’t alone!)
The winner of the contest, selected at random, is..... Bill Hine!
Congrats, Bill! Your poster will be in the mail shortly.
For everyone else, be sure to check back here for more contests and news and other goodness.... And I hope to see some of you tonight at the Adrian Tomine event at Sophia Books!
If you are a fan of independent comics and graphic novels you really should check out Robin McConnell’s radio show Inkstuds. Every Thursday between 2:00 - 3:00pm Robin interviews the best creators in the medium, from publishers like Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics and Top Shelf, for Citr Radio in Vancouver. Then, bless him, Robin posts up a podcast on the Inkstuds website so those of us unlucky enough not to live on the West Coast can listen too!
Inkstuds recently interviewed the masterful Chris Ware (ACME NOVELTY DATEBOOK, QUIMBY MOUSE and JIMMY CORRIGAN) and comics scholar Jeet Heer about the influential and much loved work of Gasoline Alley’s creator Frank King. The newspaper strips he created are being loving collected in a series of beautiful books edited by Chris with introductions by Jeet (and published by Drawn & Quarterly) called WALT & SKEEZIX.
Three volumes of WALT & SKEEZIX available so far:
WALT & SKEEZIX BOOK ONE
WALT & SKEEZIX BOOK TWO
WALT & SKEEZIX BOOK THREE (New!)
Click here for the Inkstuds interview with Chris Ware and Jeet Heer
As the New York Times reported earlier in the year, reprints of vintage newspaper strips have suddenly become very popular as contemporary cartoonists and graphic artists like Chris Ware, Seth, and Joe Matt openly pay homage to these 4 panel masterpieces.
Other collected reprints of classic newspaper strips available include:
HANK KETCHAM’S COMPLETE DENNIS THE MENACE (Fantagraphics)
KRAZY & IGNATZ by George Herriman (Fantagraphics)
POPEYE by E. C. Segar (Fantagraphics)
POGO by Walt Kelly (Fantagraphics)
THE COMPLETE PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz
Fantagraphics have also published R. C. Harvey’s definitive (nee massive!) biography of the legendary Milton Caniff, creator of newspaper strips Steve Canyon and Terry and the Pirates.
If you interested in all this stuff, but you don’t quite know where to begin, I’d recommend you download the awesome PDF sampler available from the Fantagraphics website. It’s very cool resource with loads of images.
If contemporary comics are more your thing, Inkstuds also interviewed the mighty Adrian Tomine recently.
As Siobhan mentions below, Adrian is appearing at Sophia Books in Vancouver on Tuesday November 13th and 7pm, to launch his first full-length graphic novel SHORTCOMINGS. He’s being interview by Vancouver author, journalist and all round good guy Kevin Chong!
AND you can also win a free signed poster of the cover art to SHORTCOMINGS (which are awesome - if I could enter, I would!) by leaving a comment on Siobhan’s post.
Apart from SHORTCOMINGS we also have several collections of Adrian’s work available from D&Q:
SCRAPBOOK
SUMMER BLONDE
SLEEPWALK
32 STORIES (which is almost out of stock so get them while you can!)
If you are really obsessive you can also get Adrian Tomine Stationery from Chronicle Books:
SHE READ THE LETTER… Journal
OPTIC NERVE postcards
(yes, yes… I do own all of these and I did get Adrian to sign them when he was in Toronto...)
Graphica artist Adrian Tomine has been all over the place recently. And fortunately (at least for me!), soon he’ll be in Vancouver.
Since Adrian Tomine’s new graphic novel, SHORTCOMINGS, came out, it seems that he’s been on the road—and all over the media, from the cover of Giant Robot to the National Post.
- Read the interview with Adrian Tomine in the National Post
“In a way, I wanted this book to be a summation of all the things I’ve learned in comics leading up to it,” he says.
- Read the review in the Georgia Straight
“Adrian Tomine is the reigning king of comic ennui, and with Shortcomings, which collects issues 9 to 11 of his Optic Nerve, he continues his wonderfully misanthropic rule."
- Read the review in Now magazine
- Listen to the podcast interview on Inkstuds.com
* * *
ADRIAN TOMINE TOUR
After a successful event at Toronto’s International Festival of Authors last month, Tomine is heading west. He’ll be in Vancouver next week:
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2007
Sophia Books
450 West Hastings St., Vancouver, BC
7-10 pm: Q+A and signing
For a full list of Tomine’s tour stops, click here.
* * *
ADRIAN TOMINE CONTEST
Win a SHORTCOMINGS poster signed by Adrian Tomine. To enter, just leave a comment below to let us know what you think of Tomine’s work. The only catch is that you must be a resident of Canada. The contest closes November 12.
Rutu Modan has been interviewed by the BBC about her acclaimed graphic novel EXIT WOUNDS:
We have also just found out that Rutu will be appearing at this year’s International Festival of Authors in Toronto with fellow Drawn & Quarterly artists James Sturm, author of the forthcoming JAMES STURM’S AMERICA (which includes the out-of-print story THE GOLEM’S MIGHTY SWING) and Adrian Tomine, whose first full-length graphic novel SHORTCOMINGS is out this fall (woop!).
(Fans of Adrian Tomine on the west coast, might also like to know that he will be appearing at Sophia Books in Vancouver on Tuesday, November 13th! More details soon...)
Here’s your chance to see some of our great authors at events around the country.
This is the list of who’s going to be where. (Sorted by location and date.)
(UPDATE: Author events have been added to this list since it was originally posted. New additions are marked below.)
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Word On The Street Vancouver
Sunday, September 30, 2007
http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/
John Lekich
Chris Mizzoni
Pascal Blanchet
Bruce Grierson
Vancouver International Writers Festival
October 16-21, 2007
http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/
Justin Cartwright
John Burns
Edeet Ravel
Faďza Gučne
ONTARIO
Eden Mills Writers Festival
September 7-9, 2007
http://www.edenmillswritersfestival.ca/
Edeet Ravel
International Festival of Authors, Toronto
October 17-27, 2007
http://www.readings.org/
David Leavitt
Emma Donoghue
Justin Cartwright
Will Self
Rutu Modan New Addition!
James Sturm New Addition!
Adrian Tomine New Addition!
I know, it’s short notice, but here’s a fun event for any Vancouverites at a loose end this evening. Thanks to Charles Montgomery for the heads-up!
The Second Annual First Line Awards Spectacular!
A benefit for PEN Canada
On Thursday, February 22, come on down to the Billy Bishop legion for an evening of non-fiction sport and Very Serious Thoughts about writing.
Featuring...
* A Tribute to Literary Journalist Ryszard Kapuscinksi.
* Appearances by award-winning doc filmmaker Nettie Wild and adventure author Derek Lundy.
* The world’s most efficient readings of non-fiction: only one sentence per author!
* Prolonged drinking, yelling and heckling by some of Vancouver’s writing elite, including you!
* A chance to be photographed with the Golden Monkey award for best first line from a recent work of non-fiction!
About the first line contest...
We proved last year that we really could judge a book by its first line. Now, whether you’re a J-school student or a celebrated scribbler, we challenge you to show up with the first line of a recently published story. We’re going to let a crowd of well-lubricated idiots decide who wrote the best first line. Rules?
It’s gotta be non-fiction, it’s gotta be published within the last year and it’s gotta be yours. Shy? Don’t worry: we’ll have bestselling scribe Derek Lundy read your lines. The winner gets his or her photo taken with the prestigious Golden Monkey.
About our cause…
PEN Canada supports freedom of expression around the globe and we support PEN Canada. We entertain for free, so please donate generously!
The Second Annual First Line Awards
Thursday, February 22, 7:30 PM.
At the Billy Bishop Legion, 1407 Laburnum (at Cornwall), in Kitsbrought to you by Emily’s Monkey
7:30 pm December 13, 2006
St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Anglican Church, 37th and Larch in Vancouver
At the invitation of Reverend Kevin Dixon, journalist Hadani Ditmars, author of Dancing in the No-Fly Zone: a Woman’s Journey through Iraq, one of the Globe and Mail‘s top 100 books of 2005, will speak on the theme, “Peace on Earth: Is it Possible?”
Hadani will also read excerpts from her book and show video and photographs from her assignments in Iraq and Palestine. A question and answer session and book signing will follow.
Admission is free and open to the public.
Dancing in the No-Fly Zone
by Hadani Ditmars
published by Raincoast Books
“... touches places in the nation’s soul that horror headlines never reach.” --Boyd Tonkin, the London Independent
Press Release:
Raincoast Books and Pocket Cine launch the “What’s Your Worst Case Scenario?” mobile video contest to encourage professional and amateur artists to explore the “third screen” (mobile devices such as cellphones and iPods) as a distribution channel for Canadian video content. Videographers are asked to use the popular Worst-Case Scenario books as inspiration for their videos. Visit Raincoast.com
At the end of October, Raincoast offered one lucky winner 2 tickets to the Lyonesse Theatre’s production of Gonzo and a copy of Adam Lewis Schroeder’s novel Empress of Asia. (See original posting.)
Gonzo is written by and directed by Gordon Pascoe and is based on his WWII experience as a child in a Japanese prison camp in Shanghai. (Find out more ...)
The winner was Suanne from Richmond and she and her friend Betty Lou attended the play on Remembrance Day. Suanne said, “we thought it would be meaningful to see it today.”
Suanne noted that the child actors were quite engaging and stole the performance, and that Pascoe was in attendance that day and she and Betty Lou had a chance to meet him.
Similar to Empress of Asia in its Southeast Asia setting, Gonzo offers a perspective of the Second World War that is not often portrayed in novels or the media. Of Gonzo, Suanne says, “it was a personal remembrance rather than pure fiction. It was refreshing to see a different perspective on WWII, which didn’t focus so much on Germany and the force labor camps.”
Gonzo finished its run in Vancouver on November 12. Empress of Asia is available in stores now.
Press Release:
Partners Raincoast Books and Pocket Cine Inc. present the “What’s Your Worst-Case Scenario?” Video Contest. Submit a short video of a Worst-Case Scenario survival tip for a chance to win a $500 shopping spree in a participating bookstore. Contest starts November 13 and ends January 31. Video submissions are viewable in the contest gallery and are downloadable to video-capable mobile devices such as cellphones and iPods.
Are you a hockey fan?
Canucks Legends: Vancouver Hockey Heroes by Jeff Rud, with an introduction by Trevor Linden.
Canucks Legends chronicles the first four decades of the franchise—from a young expansion team to the Canucks’ current place among hockey’s elite. The Canucks come to life through 75 player profiles—Orland Kurtenbach, Stan Smyl, Richard Brodeur, Cam Neely, Trevor Linden, Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and many others—and over 300 historic and contemporary photos. If you are a Canucks fan, this is the book for you.
Maple Leaf Legends and Canadien Legends are also available.
A Hero Named Howe by Mike Leonetti and illustrated by Greg Banning.
A Hero Named Howe is the latest in Raincoast’s Hockey Heroes series for kids, age 5+.
Charlie is a fan of the Detroit Red Wings, and his hero is the great Gordie Howe. Although he plays in his neighbourhood hockey league, Charlie is concerned that he doesn’t play as well as his teammates. Inspired by a book written by Howe, Charlie considers other ways to be involved in hockey. A chance meeting with broadcaster Foster Hewitt, famous for exclaiming “He Shoots! He Scores!,” convinces Charlie to try play-by-play announcing.
Raincoast podcasts are available from iTunes by searching for "Raincoast" or the RSS feed is available from Feedburner at 
Check out our NEWEST Podcast for Clancy with the Puck, a hilarious tale of hockey hubris.